Cromarty Firth ship-to-ship campaigners take battle to Holyrood
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PROTESTERS against proposals to transfer oil between ships in the Moray Firth are to take their fight to Holyrood next week.
The Cromarty Rising group, who are leading the campaign against the Port of Cromarty Firth scheme, has announced plans for an "Edinburgh Gathering" outside the Scottish Parliament during First Minister’s Questions on January 12.
Describing it as an attempt to "politely but clearly make our feelings on ship-to-ship oil transfers in open water in the Moray Firth known," the group adds "a good turnout for this trip could make all the difference."
It follows a spate of high-profile activity by the group and other supporters of their fight which included a mass gathering of around 500 people on the beach at Nairn and a presence outside Highland Council headquarters ahead of the local authority’s last full meeting of 2016.
At that meeting councillors declined to take a definite position in relation to the port proposals, after advice that doing so could endanger their right to comment when a revised licence application is submitted by the port.
This is expected imminently and the council is one of the statutory consultees.
Instead, councillors agreed to discuss the matter at a scheduled council meeting in March or to bring this forward if, or when, a revised application is actually submitted.
The controversial plans to transfer crude oil from ship-to-ship at the mouth of the Cromarty Firth in environmentally sensitive waters famous for its bottlenose dolphins are being refined in a bid to overcome some of the public’s fears.
The plans have attracted a number of objections from community councils and conservation groups.
